CHP mayors lend support to leader after attack

ANKARA

The newly elected mayors of Istanbul and Ankara have expressed their support to main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu who was attacked by a nationalist mob last weekend in Ankara.

Kılıçdaroğlu held a special meeting with the mayors of 11 metropolitan municipalities, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, on April 26 at the party headquarters to discuss their priorities and activity plans for their constituencies.

İzmir Mayor Tunç Soyer, Antalya Mayor Muhittin Böcek, Aydın Mayor Özlem Çerçioğlu, Mersin Mayor Vahap Seçer, Adana Mayor Zeydan Karalar, Eskişehir Mayor Yılmaz Büyükerşen, Muğla Mayor Osman Gürün, Hatay Mayor Lütfi Savaş and Tekirdağ Mayor Kadir Albayrak also attended the meeting with Kılıçdaroğlu.

Before the meeting, some of the mayors answered questions asked by reporters about the attack against Kılıçdaroğlu.

“It’s very bad. It’s an attack against our country, state and people as well as our unity,” İmamoğlu said. “This issue should be assessed in the most sensitive way. Downplaying the incident by suggesting that there were only nine or 10 people involved is not meaningful. If this issue is not handled in a proper way, similar problems can be witnessed in the future,” he added.

Hatay Mayor Savaş said the attack being carried out during the funeral of a fallen soldier was deplorable. “It’s unacceptable that such an attack can take place at the funeral of our martyr. This martyr belongs to the entire nation and everybody has the right to pay his or her last respect,” he stated.  

The mayors also exchanged ideas on how to serve their people especially in cities where the CHP does not have full control of the municipal assembly, like Istanbul and Ankara.

Büyükerşen, who has been hailed for changing and improving Eskişehir province in the last decade as its mayor, was expected to explain how to solve such issues and give advice to the new mayors.